By joshua NATION BUILDING, A SERIOUS BUSINESS – Youth Development: Challenges and The Support Base for Today and Tomorrow
By Amb. Hon. Abdulsalam Bawa DANGANA
Nation building is not a slogan. It is a daily responsibility.
And at the center of it are the Youth of Today, and the Leaders of Tomorrow.
Nigeria’s future will be determined by what we do with our young people right now. With over 60% of our population under the age of 35, the youth are not just the future – they are the present workforce, innovators, farmers, entrepreneurs, and voters shaping our democracy.
THE CHALLENGES FACING YOUTH TODAY
Despite their energy and potential, Nigerian youth face critical challenges that threaten national progress:
1. Economic Exclusion: High unemployment, limited access to capital, and few opportunities for skills-based jobs in agriculture, tech, and industry.
2. Education and Skills Gap: A mismatch between what is taught and what the job market and nation-building require for the 21st century.
3. Lack of Support Structures: Many youth lack mentorship, cooperative platforms, and access to land, funding, and information to start and scale.
4. Disinformation and Disengagement: Without proper civic education and positive engagement, many youth become vulnerable to apathy, misinformation, and social vices.
5. Rural-Urban Divide: Youth in rural areas, especially young farmers and women, lack access to tools, training, and markets to contribute productively.
If these challenges are ignored, we risk raising a generation with potential but no platform.
THE SUPPORT BASE FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW
Building the nation means building its youth. This requires a deliberate, multi-stakeholder support base:
1. Government and Policy: Policies that prioritize youth employment, agribusiness financing, digital skills, and land access for young farmers and cooperatives.
2. Cooperatives and Civil Society: Organizations like the Women in Agriculture, Co-operative Federation of Nigeria, and youth groups – National Youth Council of Nigeria that mobilize, train, and provide structure at the grassroots across the 774 LGAs.
3. Private Sector and Mentorship: Businesses that offer apprenticeships, funding, and market access, and leaders who mentor the next generation.
4. Education Institutions: Curriculum that builds critical thinking, entrepreneurship, and patriotism alongside academics.
5. The Youth Themselves: A generation that chooses service over self, innovation over complaint, and nation-building over division.
THE CALL TO ACTION
Nation building is a serious business. It cannot be outsourced.
Today’s youth must be equipped, engaged, and empowered.
Tomorrow’s Nigeria depends on the investments we make in them now – in their skills, their values, and their opportunities.
When we support our youth, we secure our farms, our factories, our communities, and our democracy.
When we neglect them, we mortgage our future. Build the Youth. Build the Nation.
Let us build together. For today. For tomorrow. For Nigeria.
For: 774 GLOBAL VISION INITIATIVE
For Grassroots Engagement, Mobilization and Governance Support.
Amb, Hon. Abdulsalam Bawa DANGANA is the DG/National Coordinator of 774 GLOBAL VISION INITIATIVE (774GVI)
Email: 774gvi26@gmail.com
Tel: +2348073013599